IT's HOT HERE!!!!

HOooooooooOOOOooOOOOooOOOOOOOOOlaaaaaa my peoples and mis personas. Whelp. Not going to lie, this email is probably going to be a little bit shorter than last weeks. So, sorry for that, but hey, that’s what happens sometimes. But! It has been a pretty decent week. We were able to teach a bunch of lessons and start teaching a few new people. We hope to get to see them again sometime this week. 

This last week has been so so so so so so so SOOOO hot. Like, melting our shoes on the asphalt hot. So that made the week a little long. But, just at the end of the week the weather got a little rainy and cooled down a bit. So now we are actually feeling nice and fresco without too much heat, but always with the humidity. But, sadly, on Sunday morning there was a huge rain storm with quite a bit of rain and lightning. And, because we are in Argentina, that means that there were very few people in the church for our meetings. Just about 10 people. Pretty crazy. And I was able to speak again in Sacrament Meeting, which makes that my 4th time speaking in the 5 weeks that I’ve been here. So I guess you could say that I’m getting pretty good at this Public Speaking thing. Blessings from the Mission!

But other than that, we have been meeting with all of our investigadores. Pablo is going pretty well and strong still. He wasn’t able to come to church last week because none of his clothes were clean and he didn’t want to be in the church without clean, decently smelling clothes. But we reassured him that we don’t care nearly as much about how he is dressed or even how he smells just as long as he is in the church with us to learn and to feel the Spirit. He is a good guy. We have also been talking a lot more about Baptism with him. He hasn’t been feeling too sure about being baptized into our church after having been baptized Catholic when he was but a wee lad. But we explained to him how Christ was baptized and how we are baptized unto Repentance and how children do not need to be baptized because they are already perfect and don’t have any sins. In the end, we basically just left him with the invitation to continue reading the Book of Mormon and to pray, while kneeling, to know if it is true and also to know if he should be baptized or not. He said he would, so we will be passing by this week to verify with him. 

Manuel is still his crazy self. He isn’t doing too much reading or praying, but always loves having us over to eat his peaches. Not going to lie, the peaches were super gross to me at first, but they are starting to really grow on me. But, he has been wanting us to go to see his son and talk to him, but every time that we have been over to visit him, he hasn’t been home. But, we are still working hard with Manuel to hopefully get him to come to church with us sometime. 

With the Bolivianos we were able to meet with them twice this week, but not all of them together. We met with Jonny, who is the member guy, and Russo, who is the youngest single guy. Wilder and Jessica had to go to Bolivia for some kind of emergency so we were not able to meet with them at all. But Russo has been reading the Book of Mormon and thinking a lot about it. We will see if this week we can talk a little more this him and specifically about his reading. But, for the most part, we were talking with Jonny and helping him understand a few things. He told us that he has been feeling a little anxious and nervous lately, but we helped him feel a little better and calmer. We also got to read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with him and talk to him about starting the habit again of reading the Book of Mormon every day. It was a pretty good time. 

We taught a few first lessons to a few people this week too hope to be able to meet with them and teach them again sometime soon. A few of the names are Johanna, Neli, Juan, Nestor, Desere and Gioana. All very good lessons and we just hope that we can find them while they are home. 

Another thing that happened this week is that we meet up with a guy named Pasuti. Elder Mortensen and Elder Mitchell meet him a while ago. He is an Advantista del Septimo Dia, or in English that would be something like 7th Day Adventist, I think. Basically, to explain it the most simply, Advantistas are almost like a mix between our church and the Jehovah Witnesses. They believe in prophets and revelations and all that. They also believe in the Sabbath Day being the 7th day of the week, or in other words, Saturday. So those are a few points on the Advantista church. But so the guy is super nice and let us go to his house and have a bit of a Bible Study. So we studied the Premortal Life, the Creation, and the Fall of Adam and Eve. It was a pretty interesting ordeal because apparently the Advantistas don’t believe in a Premortal Life. So we tried to explain to him our beliefs and why we believe it to be that way, but he would demand a scriptural reference, which is absolutely okay, except for the fact that 1. I don’t know too many Bible verses by heart and 2. Almost all of our doctrine of the Plan of Salvation can be found in places like the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. So yeah. It was a bit of a discussion. But basically we told him about that stuff and he just asked Elder Mitchell to bear his testimony of the Book of Mormon and how he knows it to be true. I was like "Awe heck yeah, that’s perfect! Give it to him, Mitchell!" I was just excited to hear the spirit speak through my companion. After a great, super powerful testimony from Elder Mitchell, Pasuti just said "Well good for you" and said something along the lines of we have our truth and he has his. So, for now we weren’t able to get our point across to him too well, but we are planning to meet with him again and explain the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was a pretty great week! This coming week is also transfers.  This last 6 weeks have gone so fast! Over the weekend we will find out if Elder Mitchell and I are staying together or if anyone is leaving.  I hope we both stay but know that whatever happens, is inspired by Presidente Westover. I will serve wherever the Lord wants me to serve!!

Just want to leave with you all my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that this man was called to be the Prophet of the Restoration and through him the true church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth. I know that we can receive all the blessings and gifts that come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our covenants that we make through Baptism and through the very special opportunity we have to enter the House of the Lord and receive the blessings that come through the Holy Temples. I know that the Book of Mormon is the proof that Joseph Smith really was a Prophet of God. I know these things to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Chau 

Elder Haley

A typical meal

Summer hibiscus

large containers on the river

Hanging out on our little porch in our street clothes

The sunsets are so amazing!

One of the park areas in town

New Changes!!!

Howdy! What is going my friends?? I hope that all went well for you guys this week and that you can sit down for a few minutes and read this email. It has been a pretty good week. Super long, it seems, but it went pretty well overall. We had a good experiences and had a lot of fun, like always. But before I start, just want to thank you all for reading and caring about what goes on in my life. I know that as I work here in Hernandarias I can help the people that live here, but I also hope to help and maybe even inspire you all at the same time. But enough of that...

First….new changes this week from the prophet!!!  We can call home every week now, instead of twice a year!!  That is so insane and wonderful! Here in Hernadarias, we don’t have computers that have cameras we can still call via the Google Hangout.  I will be able to see and hear my family, but they won’t be able to see me.  This is an amazing change and it will be great for missionaries and families!

So, after spending Pday in Santa Elena last week, and eating some pretty good Asado with the rest of the Zone, we stayed the night there and had Divisions with the Zone Leaders the next day. Sadly, we weren’t able to get too much done. Let me explain. In the morning I left with Elder Rasmussen and we went to visit one lady, but she wasn’t home. But then, we had to go back to the pench to pay this one guy for bringing us a tank of gas. So the way most houses work here is that they don’t have direct gas line to their stoves. People just have to buy tanks every once in a while and then that is hooked up right to the stove. Honestly, that was super crazy to me because I have had direct line gas my entire mission and in all of my penches. So, we had to pay that guy to give us a new tank of gas, and then we had to go to the Hermanas pench and spend basically the rest of the day there with them. In all of the Hermana’s penches they have security alarms, but the alarm of the Hermana’s was broken. Two guys came to fix it, but for them to be there with the Hermana’s, at least one companionship of Elders has to be there too. And, because the fixing took the entire day, we were there the entire day with the Hermanas. Not exactly what we had planned for our day but we just had to roll with it and make the best of the situation.

This week with Pablo we were able to meet with him once, but he unfortunately wasn’t able to come to church. But, for the one small meeting that we had with him, we were reading together in 2 Nephi 31 and learning about the Gospel or Doctrine of Christ. It was going really well, he was super into it and it was a pretty good lesson, but then about halfway through the chapter, he had to leave. So we had to end it with a quick prayer and we tried going back again the next day, but he was busy. A little lame, but we are not losing hope. He is having a really good time with the lessons and starting to develop the every day habits like reading and praying. He’s starting to understand a lot more. He is a great guy, super nice and kind. We are just hoping to meet with him a few more times this week and for sure get him to the church this next Sunday. 

One of the less active members here in Hernandarias recently fell and broke her ankle, so we went to visit her this week and we were just chatting and getting to know here and her family a little bit more. In the entire family there is about 8 members or so, but they are all inactive except for one of the daughters named Milagros who just turned 19 years old. So we are always trying to help them be more excited and motivated to go to church. But, for this visit, we just got to know them and then gave a blessing to the mom. It was fun because Elder Mitchell had only stood in on one other blessing his entire mission, so I made him do the actual blessing part for the hermana who broke her ankle. I did the anointing and Elder Mitchell gave a very good, very short blessing after sealing the anointing. It was a little funny, but he did his best. I remember how nervous I was to give my first blessing in Spanish. Actually, for only having a few months in the mission, he speaks really great Spanish. It makes my life a little bit easier and teaching a lot more enjoyable. 

With Manuel this week, we were able to talk to him a few times. We, of course, listened to a few songs and ate a bit of his peaches. But, we were also able to talk about the scriptures and teach him too. First of all, we taught him about the Word of Wisdom. It was a pretty easy, straightforward lesson because he doesn’t have any problems with any of it. He doesn’t drink, smoke, chew, huff, puff, inject, use, snort, or partake of any of the substances that are mentioned in the Word of Wisdom. He says that it messes with his singing voice. We weren’t about to argue with him, so it was a pretty good lesson and in the end, he committed to continue keeping himself clean of those things. But on a different night we were talking to him and he has a song that he sings called "La sin corazon" which means "the woman without a heart." Every time he sings the song, he goes off on a rant about his ex-wife and how she cheated on him for years and how she is the devil and how he didn’t do anything wrong but that it was all her fault. So, after yet another one of those rants, we talked to him about Forgiveness and loving others as Jesus loves us. It was a good way to help him, and he did admit that sometimes he gets a little carried away. Then, for the weekend, he went to Santa Fe and told us that he wasn’t going to be back until Monday. So we invited him to church in Santa Fe and gave him the address and hours for the meetings at one of the churches in Santa Fe. It was going to be amazing for him to go, especially all on his own in Santa Fe, but we just saw him last night and he told us that Sunday morning he woke up and his ear was hurting so bad that he had to come back to Hernandarias that morning. So that was a bummer. But he said he really wanted to go. We’ll make him come with us this week. 

There was one afternoon, kind of like last week, when we had exhausted all of our plans and decided that we had to go contact in an area that we hadn’t been to before. So we went way out there and started contacting. The first door that we knock on... nothing. And it happened like that for a few houses, until we clapped at one house and this guy comes out smiling. He invites us to sit down with him outside his house and we started chatting for a little bit. His name is Juan and he lives at home with his girlfriend and their two daughters. He is super nice and funny and is always laughing. So we get to know him and then planned to go by the next morning. When we passed by that morning, we sat down with him and chatted for a little bit more and then shared with him the message of the Restoration. It was a great lesson and he participated well and agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. But, because we had only known him until then, we asked if we could get to know his girlfriend and children also. So he called his girlfriend out and we met her and started talking for a little bit and now it’s not going to be weird between us the next time we go by. I am super excited to start teaching this family and share with them the Gospel that has brought so many blessings to my life. I already love them. 

Alright, one last thing before I end this email. I can’t remember if I’ve said anything about the Bolivianos that live here in Hernandarias, but they have a store here that sells some pretty fake clothes, but apparently there are a few of them that live here and two of them are members. The missionaries had previously meet with them, but it’s been a long time since that happened. So we have been trying for the past few weeks to put ourselves in contact with them. But last week, we were walking down the street about to head to the pench for lunch when one of the Bolivians ran up to us from behind and asked us for our number so that his cousin, who is going through some pretty hard stuff right now, can talk to us. We of course were happy to give him our number, but we didn’t hear from the guy until this week when he called and invited us over to eat lunch with them on Wednesday. So we went over and ate some super good food that made me think a lot of Elder Gonzales and then after we had a great lesson. We started the lesson at about 2 or 230 ish, but we didn’t end until about 4ish. We had learned that they had a few family members who had died recently, so we were impressed to teach the Plan of Salvation. It went great. We taught all 5 of them, two of which are the members that we have been trying to get with for a while. They all participated, paid really great attention, and all asked great questions. It was probably one of the best lessons I’ve had my entire mission. Then, after we ended talking about the Plan of Salvation, they started asking about the Book of Mormon. So we shared with them a little bit of the story of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. When we gave them all Book of Mormons, one of the girls was really interested and started to read it immediately. They are great people and I am really excited to start teaching them also. 

But yeah. Other than that stuff, we have been meeting with a few other people and contacting more and trying to start to teach more and more people. We are having a lot of fun together and trying to make the Hernandarias Experience as good as possible. 

Also, this week we went to a great Fish restaurant down by the river. We bought one of the dishes that brings out plates full of all different types of fish cooked different ways. It was a bit expensive, but totally worth it. Something that Dad would love to eat... (WINKY FACE)

I’d like to end with a small Spiritual Thought. I was reading this week in the talks from this last General Conference and the one by M. Joseph Brough was one that really caught my attention. I love how he mentions that no matter what, hard things will happen to us. We will have trials. We will have problems. We will have tests and difficulties. But, it’s how we let these things affect us that is really important. That is actually one of the themes that I’m starting to see in the latest General Conference. But, I just want to leave you with my testimony that I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and through his Grace, we can over come anything that happens to us. We can always have hope. Like it says in John 16, that we should not fear, for Jesus has overcome the world and is willing to help us do the same. 

Thank you and love you all!

Until we meet again...

Chau

Elder Haley

Zone Conference in Santa Elena eating Asado.

The restaurant on the river with the fish

Added a little greenery to the pench!  Pretty hard to kill a cactus!

Remember last week when I mentioned the leather I bought and the scripture covers I ordered?? Well, here they are.  He only drew on them with a sharpie!  The next picture is what I showed him and he said he could do it...not quite the same.

Here are the pictures of the pench that I promised. It is small but we make it work!

42 Years Looks Good on You!

Yoooooooo my people of the USA and of other parts of the world! How y’all doing’? I’m alright. Not too much to mention this week, but hey it wasn't too bad of a week at all. We got a few people taught and ended up meeting a few of our goals for the week. But first of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA! WOOHOO! If I did the math correctly, you still aren’t old yet, so yay for that! So let’s get into the week, ya?

It was a bit of a short, out of whack week after being in La Paz until Tuesday, but it was still pretty good. We had a few really good experiences and taught a few really good lessons. 

First of all, we taught Pablo again this week. This time we were able to finish the lesson on the Plan of Salvation without being interrupted by his crazy drunk brother. It was really great. He really liked it and understood everything. We invited him to think and start praying about if he should be baptized or not, and he accepted to do that. We explained to him that in order for him to enter into the Celestial Kingdom, he had to do a few things in this life to help him prepare. We call these few things the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said he would start thinking more about that and that he was super interested in what we had shared up to that point. So it was great. We also re-invited him to come to church with us. He said he would love to come, but was a little worried about how he was going to be dressed. So we explained to him that there is no "dress code" to enter the church, but that we would love to see him there, no matter what clothes he had on. He must have been comforted by that, because he ended up coming to church on Sunday! And, all by himself. I guess this would be a good time to mention something else too... Pablo has schizophrenia, but has been taking different medications, so now it hardly affects him. So we were really happy to see him come to church. And also, he already knew one of the members, the Hermano Perez. Well, I guess just about all of Hernandarias knows that guy. Hermana Perez is super old and is always doing kinds of service and food court stuff so everyone knows him. So it was great to see that Pablo already has a friend in church. All the members were super welcoming and friendly to him, and he was excited to ask us about when we would be passing by his house again this week. He’s a great guy! So we are, for now, hoping to meet with him again this week and helping him decide if he wants to be baptized or not. We think it's going to be great for him.

Also this week, we had a day in the afternoon that we had planned all sorts of citas and had a bunch of people to pass by for the entire afternoon. BUT, because we are in Argentina and because almost no one is ever home when we make plans with them, we went through our plans for the entire afternoon in just about half of the afternoon. So we knocked on the last house, and they weren't there. So we looked at each other, sweating our ties off, feet tired from walking all over town, and without a single idea of what we should do. But then, something that President Westover had shared with me came to mind. He said that I have to not be scarred to pray in public, that if I feel prompted to say a prayer, I need to say it. So that's what we did. Standing on the sidewalk we both said our personal prayers and asked about what we should do and who we should visit. After we said our personal prayers, we just started walking. We didn't exactly agree on who to visit right off the bat, but we decided to visit this one guy named Ruben who is an old investigador and was usually home around that time. So we went to his house _ which, by the way, was all the way across town. But, when we got there, the people were actually moving out. So we offered our help. They thanked us for the offer, but denied the help. So we figured we were in one of the other situations that Presidente Westover had shared with us before. He always teaches that sometimes when we are prompted to a certain house, it might not be the people that live in that house that we were sent to find. But, sometimes its just someone that lives in that area. So we decided to start contacting a little bit in that area. We didn't have too much luck at first, but after a few houses, we ended up meeting this sweet old lady. We had just knocked on her door and she came around the corner and sweetly told us that she was actually the owner of the home. (its so awkward when that happens...!) But we started talking to her and getting to know her. Her name is Rosi. We sit down with her in front of her house and listen to her talk about her kids and how about her life in general. Then she starts talking about religion and how she has been a member of this one Evangelist church for sometime now, just about 19 years or so. But she mentioned that just before that she had met and taken the lessons from the LDS Missionaries. She  could still remember their names. But she told us that she still had her copy of the Book of Mormon and how she still reads it every once in a while. Then she mentioned that just a few weeks earlier she was listening to the radio and heard something about the missionaries. So that takes us to about a week or two before I got to Hernandarias. Elder Mitchell and his last comp and trainer, Elder Mortensen from my MTC Group, had been on a radio station and had shared a message on the Restoration with the owner of the station. It was a really cool experience that they could have. And so the message that Rosi heard, the old lady that we had found, was of them. So, in a crazy turn of events, we had found her and she seemed to be pretty interested in what we had to share. So yeah, pretty nuts. Not to mention that she is really good friends with Hermano Perez. Like I said, literally everyone knows that man. So yeah. So we talk to her a little bit about the Restoration and leave her with a pamphlet of the first lesson and we said we would be coming back in the next week. After that, we were walking by her house one day and she was sitting outside and told us that she had been reading a bit of the Book of Mormon since we had passed by her. Pretty great experience. 

And as for Manuel, the crazy old man that plays the guitar for us and gives us peaches, we went by him this week and he had some company over. Two other men, one named Ruben and the other I can't remember. But as we were sitting there and getting to know his two friends, the one guy had a box next to him. We asked him what it was and he told us it was an accordion. Freaking nuts. So not only did Manuel and Elder Mitchell play a song or two, but Manuel's friend also played the accordion. It was pretty nuts and actually super cool. But, other than that, we weren't able to see Manuel the rest of the week, which was a bummer. But hey, what can you do?

But yeah, we had a few pretty good experiences all week. It was fun. Also, one of the less active members here in Hernandarias, named Tito, is really good at leather crafting. So, I bought some leather and he is in the process of making a set of leather scripture covers for me. Finally! I've been looking for someone to do that all my mission! I am SO excited get a set and custom made!

Right now we are actually in Santa Elena, once again. But this time we are here to have divisions with the Zone Leaders. So we are spending P-day here with them, having an Asado (my favorite) as a Zone, which I remind you is only 8 of us, and having Divisions tomorrow. It should be pretty cool! 

One last thing and I'll end this super long email. Recently I have been reading and studying a book that Elder Mitchell has called The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Calister. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but it's an amazing book. So much great detail and Doctrinal knowledge jammed into one book, and about the most important event in history, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's a great book and is helping me come to understand and learn more about the Plan of Salvation, Jesus's Love and Grace, and how the Atonement applies to me. I strongly recommend it to all of you. 

Thanks for making it to the end of this email! Love and miss all of you!

Chau

Elder Haley

Manuel, his friend and Elder Mitchell playing music

Hernandarias!

This is Jonathan.  He is a friend and super funny and nice.

in the campo de Hernandarias

 Pablo at church on Sunday!

This is the building where we have church.  It is super small but I love it.  You don't need a fancy building to feel the spirit and to worship. 

Beautiful birthday card on the way, Mom!

Pretty sweet tag picture, I know you love when I send these.  What spider?

We made it to The Peace and ate on the River...

HOOOOOLA my people! How are we all doing this fine day? I hope all good, because I am feeling that way too. SOOOOOOO, this week was pretty cool. Not too much as far as big crazy things, but we had cool experiences and we got things done. 

The biggest thing that happened was our Zone Conference in a town called La Paz. La Paz in English is THE PEACE. Just in case you were wondering what the title meant. It was super great! It took a little bit of time to get there... We had to take two buses and stay the night with other Elders in Santa Elena on Sunday night then another bus the following morning, but we got there on time (or maybe a little late...) and had a great time. This conference was focused a lot on Desires of the Heart and Faith. I’ll explain..

First, Hermana Westover took part of the time to talk about our wants and wishes, or in other words, our desires. It was something that really helped me. She talked about how sometimes we as missionaries might come to the mission without the right idea in mind. Some people do it for their family, others for ward members, others for their boyfriends and girlfriends. But, the only two reasons that help us have the best mission that we can have, to serve with all our heart, might, mind and strength are two things: Love for the Lord and Service of other People. She said that if we didn’t come to the mission for those reasons, or we did, but have lost those feelings and desires in the time that we have been here, that we can pray to God to help us feel better and give us those desires and feelings. It was a great part of the Conference. I enjoyed it a lot and am planning to use it as soon as possible. We can improve every day to make our mission the best it can be!

Presidente Westover talked about Faith. He shared a story of a man that would row a boat and help people cross a river. The two oars that he had were marked as FAITH and the other as WORKS. When the people asked him why they were named this way, he said that if he tried rowing with only faith, he would only go in circles. The same way with works. So he had to use both at the same time, to get where he wanted to go. As he applied it to ourselves, he said that as a mission it seems that we are working really hard and going out to visit and find lots of people. But, after we are done teaching them, we aren’t exactly having enough faith to help them progress and follow up with all of their commitments. So we are working as a mission to now have and show more faith in the work that we do so we aren’t working super hard without too much effect in all the work that we do. 

And lastly, from the conference we also were asked to bring a few rocks to the meeting. We weren’t too sure what they were going to be used for, but we were very well instructed at the end of the conference. We read the bible together in Joshua chapter 3. We learned and recalled the story of the Arch of the Covenant. The house of Israel was carrying the Arch, but came across the Jordan River. They were instructed that the Lord would dry up the River so they could cross, but only after they stepped in the waters and got their feet wet. So that’s exactly what they did. After showing their faith and acting, the Lord was able to carry out the miracle. Later in Joshua, it also talks about how the children of Israel had gathered rocks from the riverbed and stacked them as a memorial of the miracle. So, like in the story, we had retrieved rocks and stacked them up in a showing of our devotion and willingness to work harder and show more faith. It was a great Conference. 

Back in Hernandarias, we had a good experiences this week. We were teaching someone who has interest, a man named Pablo. He is super great and has a lot of desire to learn more. So we were in the middle of our lesson of the Plan of Salvation and it was going great. Then, his brother walks by, who was super crazy drunk (keep in mind that this was at about 11 in the morning) and starts talking to us, interrupting the lesson. He goes on to say a bunch of crazy things and frankly ruined the lesson and the Spirit that was present. I was honestly pretty annoyed, so we tried to (mostly) calmly ask him to leave so we could finish the lesson. He didn’t really feel like it, so we ended up having to end the lesson without a prayer and leave to avoid anymore conflicts. After that, we weren’t able to see Pablo the rest of the week and we weren’t able to teach him again, until Saturday night. We wanted to pass by for Pablo and invite him to church the next day. And who was there in front of the house? Pablo’s brother. I said to myself "Oh jeez, not this guy again..." Not surprisingly, the guy was drunk again, but this time he was a "Nice Drunk". On my mission I have encountered this many times and it is always good when they are nice to the missionaries! So, Pablo invited us to sit down and talk for a little bit. We sat and chatted and he turned out to be really nice and enjoyable this time. It was great! We were just getting to know him and he asked us if we would like to eat some Asado Lamb. We said "You bet!" and after a few minutes, we were eating freshly cook lamb. It was probably the best food I’ve had in a few months! So amazing. We are now friends with the guy and he said that any time we want to go back and eat more asado, he is always willing to help us.. Turns out to be a great guy. I was reminded to not be so quite to judge a person because of the situation.  When the opportunity is available, get to know them.  Friendships can develop from the most unexpected situations.

We are also working a lot with one of the members here, a guy named Alberto. He is a convert of about 6 months or so and is hoping to get the Priesthood in a few months. He is a great guy and has a great testimony and plenty of faith. He is resigned to a wheelchair after having been paralyzed on his left side of the body. He works his hardest to share the Gospel with all of this neighbors and friends and gets to church every week going backwards in his wheelchair, pushing up and down the streets with his one good leg. A great example of faith and works, if I do say so myself. Alberto is awesome.

I haven’t had too many “bad haircuts” on the mission…but this new cut may fit in the "not my favorite".  It is SUPER long on top and SUPER short on the sides.  Looks like I’ll be getting it fixed sometime soon. It is hard finding a barber in new cities that cut it the way I like it. it isn't too bad, but not my favorite. It's not the worst. Also, why do we eat our meals in our bedroom? That is the only room in the apartment that has air conditioning, we die if we are in other parts of the apartment for too long.  My apartment now is MUCH smaller than my others I have lived in so far.  The kitchen table we have doesn’t fit in the room, so we have to use our end tables.  It works, no complaints!  We are so thankful to have air conditioning at all!

Well. That’s about all that happened this week. I know that everything I learned this week is true.  When we are humble and listen to what is being spoken and what the spirit teaches us, we can strengthen our testimony. I don’t want to paddle in circles, do you?

Thank you all, once again for all the love and support. Hope all goes well this week. Love you all!

Chau

Elder Haley

We made Robinson's No Bake Cookies.  YUM!

Pancakes and Eggs! Breakfast for lunch.

New haircut and PIZZA!

Dinner on the river

a few plazas from our viajes to and from zone conference. 

Yes, there are palm trees

Rocks from the Zone Conference

Districts of Santa Elena and La Paz

This was sent to Elder Mitchell's mom from the Argentine who took the picture. He sent her a follow request on Instagram.  He was in a town where they were waiting to move on to zone conference. He’s a member of the Church and just put his papers in.